Tears In Heaven
by Samantha14
Summary: When Rory goes to the bathroom, her mom is watching Quantum Leap. When she gets out of the bathroom, she's been dead for 12 years and Luke is totally in his underwear. What in the world is going on?
1. Tears In Heaven

**Tears In Heaven**

(Skip this if you don't want to read the intro)  
  
Inspired by Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven", _VH1's 100 Greatest Songs From The Last 25 Years_, a scene from Billie Letts's best-selling novel Where The Heart Is, an idea that struck me at three in the morning, and, I suppose, maybe one too many Sci-Fi shows.   
  
You may like this story, you may hate this story, but please: at least read all the way through the first chapter before you decide to give up on it.   
  
It's an AU fic, and you'll see what's going on with it after reading the first chapter. The rest of the story will not take place in so many different time periods. It'll take place in the same time period as the last section, which you will see with the next chapter.   
  
Don't own the characters, but I'm pretty sure I own the storyline.   
  
Thanks for you attention.   
  
(Start reading here)  
  
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"Victoria, where's John?" Twenty-year-old Lorelai Gilmore stopped her fellow maid in the middle of the upstairs hallway of the Independence Inn. "He's watching Rory."  
  
Victoria leaned over and stole a mint from the wicker basket draped over Lorelai's arm. "Saw 'em outside earlier," she said through a mouthful of chocolate. "_So_ cute," she added, swallowing.   
  
"And Rory's pretty, too," Lorelai grinned. "Thanks, Vic."   
  
Humming tunelessly, Lorelai headed downstairs and quickly out the door. "Alex!" she called to a gardener. "You seen John? He's watching Rory."   
  
Alex straightened up, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun behind Lorelai, and shook his head. Then, his gaze over Lorelai's shoulder, he paled, and nodded slowly.   
  
Lorelai whipped around, throwing her hand abover her eyes and her basket to the ground. The sun was directly in front of her, so at first she only saw the silhouette. It slowly came into focus, and Lorelai was able to recognize that it was John, carrying something in his arms. He was almost directly in front of her when she recognized her daughter, hanging limp and dripping. Then, it seemed, with every step he took, her heart sank deeper and deeper into her stomach, and finally the ground, as John stepped directly in front of her and slowly lowered Rory's lifeless body into Lorelai's arms.   
  
Her tears didn't make the slightest bit of difference, falling on Rory's drowned body.  
  
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"I'm so sorry, honey."   
  
Lorelai nodded as another nameless, faceless person patted her shoulder and apologized for something no one could make better. Her eyes remained unfocused in the direction of the plate of sandwiches. She kept her head down, letting her long hair fall over her red eyes and their puffy bags. She hadn't slept since John had handed over her four-year-old daughter three days before. The first night she'd spent in the potting shed, her eyes boring into Rory's side of the bed, as if suddenly she'd sit up and smile, as if the whole thing were a dream.   
  
It wasn't.   
  
"Oh, sorry," someone mumbled, bumping into her from behind.   
  
"'S okay," she mumbled back.   
  
"Um...are you okay?"   
  
Only slightly aware that the guy was talking to her, she shook her head. "I'm going outside," she said suddenly, making her way to Mia, the owner of the Inn, who'd very nicely offered to host the...gathering at the Inn. "I'm going outside," she repeated to the older woman when she'd reached her, who just nodded sadly and touched Lorelai's arm quickly.   
  
Numbly, Lorelai continued outside, meandering around until she found a bench overlooking the lake. She was only slightly surprised when the guy from before appeared over her and said hesitantly, "Um...can I...."  
  
She nodded, and scooched so he would have room. He settled next to her, carefully making sure they weren't touching. She allowed him to pleasantly sit in silence for almost a full minute before waving an arm at the lake and saying, "This is where it happened, you know."   
  
"Uh...what?"  
  
"You know..._it_. The reason for the whole...gathering back there." Lorelai cocked her head back toward the Inn.  
  
"Oh," the guy said quietly, finally looking her straight on. "Um...are you...?"  
  
She nodded, slowly, still facing the lake. Her stoic expression held up for twenty seconds before she broke down into tears like a little baby. "She's gone, she's really gone!" she wailed, leaning to put her arms around and her head on the shoulder of this stranger.   
  
"Uh...I'm sorry," he responded to her sobbing, awkwardly patting her back. She shook her head and blubbered, inadvertently wiping her snot all over his shoulder.   
  
"Oh," she pulled back from his shoulder and let out a short little laugh. "I think I--"  
  
"Oh, God!" he groaned, pulling his shirt until he could see the shoulder. "This is my dad's!"  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Lorelai giggled, reaching up to wipe at the dark spot on his light blue shirt.   
  
"No, it's--it's fine," he sighed, dropping his own hands. "I'll...I'll wash it later."   
  
"Um, and now that we've basically exchanged bodily fluids, we should introduce ourselves." Lorelai smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Lorelai Gilmore."   
  
"Oh, um, I'm Luke. Danes."   
  
Lorelai swept an unruly strand of hair from in front of her eye. "Nice to meet you, Luke."   
  
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"Hey," he said quietly as the door swung open. "How are you?"  
  
She glared slightly, but stood aside to let him through. As he passed her, she grabbed the bag he was holding and followed him to her living room. He paused next to her couch. She ignored his apprehension--he did this every time--and grabbed a handful of flannel, forcing him to flop onto the couch next to her.   
  
"I hate today," she muttered, pulling chili fries, ice cream, and a spoon from the bag, and popping open the pint. "Thank you," she sniffled, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder. He moved his arm until it was wrapped around her. "Twelve years," she whispered after a minute. When he glanced down at her, she shook her head and continued, "she would have been sixteen. After everything...I still remember my sixteenth year the best."   
  
"Lorelai," he sighed. "Don't do this again."   
  
"I'll try, but it's hard." She buried her face in his shoulder.  
  
"I know. It's okay, I just don't want you beating yourself up again."  
  
"Luke, this is one of the two nights a year I can completely beat myself up, and I fully intend to."  
  
"Okay. Just...not all night, okay?"  
  
She leaned up and pecked him quickly on the lips. "Okay," she half-smiled.  
  
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"God, it's_ freezing_!" Luke walked down Lorelai's hallway, dressed only in his boxer shorts, and stopped at the thermostat. "Fifty-five?" he muttered, and then raised his voice so Lorelai could hear. "Fifty-five?!"  
  
"It's warm in here," she sing-songed from her room.   
  
He grinned, but called back, "I need milk!"  
  
"God, I hope I have some," she said.   
  
"Me, too," he muttered, walking down the stairs to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and leaned down, searching through Chinese food containers and his own Luke's Diner boxes to finally come up with a small carton of school milk. He checked the expiration date; he still had a few days. Figuring she'd probably gotten it on accident, he opened it and straightened up to take a sip.   
  
There was a scream behind him. He spun around, milk flying from the carton, and yelled back, as there was a teenage girl standing in the doorway to Lorelai's sewing room off the kitchen.   
  
"Luke?" the girl questioned.  
  
"Lorelai!" Luke screamed.   
  
"What? What?" Lorelai ran down the stairs and stopped very quickly as she spotted the girl. "Oh, God." She edged around the kitchen to stand next to Luke, slightly hidden behind him.  
  
"Mom?" the girl asked.  
  
"That's not funny," Luke practially growled.  
  
"I...it's not meant to be funny...what's wrong with you two?"   
  
"Just who the hell do you think you are, coming into my kitchen and making fun of the anniversary of my daughter's death?" Lorelai moved out from behind Luke, and took a few steps toward the girl.  
  
"Mom?" The girl sounded like she was going to cry. "It's me, Rory. Really. What do you mean, your daughter's death?"   
  
"What's my middle name?" Lorelai asked quickly.  
  
"Victoria," the girl said simply. "And mine's Leigh, and Dad's middle name is James, and...I don't know your middle name, Luke."   
  
Lorelai gasped, glanced quickly at Luke, and then back at the girl. "R-Rory?" she asked, reaching a hand to touch her...daughter. 


	2. Quantum Leap

**Tears In Heaven**

Thanks for everyone's reviews. They are very much appreciated.

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"Mom?" Rory half-laughed as her mother touched her shoulder gently. "Are you okay?" She looked up at Luke. "Is she okay?"

Luke, not helping, was staring at Rory with the same shocked expression on his face.

Lorelai, now convinced that this was truly _her_ daughter, just somehow twelve years later, grabbed Rory in a hug and practically strangled her. "Hi," she murmured after a second.

"Hi," Rory answered, hugging her mother back. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Yes," Lorelai laughed, and then she let go, holding Rory at arm's length. "How are you? Are you okay?"

"Um, I'm fine." Rory looked at Luke again, hoping he was back to normal, but he was still staring shocked. "What's going on with you two?"

"I'm dreaming," Lorelai beamed at Rory, "and my baby girl is back."

"Okay, see, I don't understand this. Because I just went to sleep"—Rory checked the clock on the microwave—"about two hours ago, and when I went to sleep, you were watching that Quantum Leap marathon, and it was those three episodes that always confuse me, and you told me to go ahead and go to bed, you'd try and figure them out, and then you'd tell me about them later." Rory paused for a breath, and watched as Lorelai excitedly elbowed Luke in the stomach, looking quickly up at his face to see if he registered this. They'd been watching a Quantum Leap marathon earlier, and right after the trilogy episodes, she'd tried to figure them out, before giving up and going to bed.

"And you," Rory continued warily, talking to Luke, "were last seen at the diner, and most certainly not…_here_…um, after hours." She finished in a blush, ducking her gaze to the floor. Luke was dressed only in boxer shorts, and her mother hardly had anything more on, clothed only in a flimsy pink nightgown that ended _way _above her knees.

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked, almost exasperated. "We've been dating for years." She looked back up at Luke. "Why doesn't anyone ever believe that?" she asked, and it was clear that she asked that a lot by Luke's expression. Rory rushed to rectify the situation.

"No, it's not that I don't believe it, it's just…when I went to bed, you guys were just…friends?"

"Okay, this is really starting to get confusing." Lorelai half-laughed, putting her hands to her temples. "Why don't we go into the living room. All sit down." She half-laughed again, already moving her arm behind her to slide down Luke's, until her hand was nestled in his. Rory watched, and noticed just how comfortable the two of them were with each other—even more so than…well, Luke and Lorelai. Rory shook her head—she was confusing herself—and followed the two adults to the living room.

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Finally, screwing up her face and mustering her courage, Lorelai ducked into Williams Hardware, after spending twenty minutes pacing up and down the streets in front of the big picture windows. The bells above the door jingled, and Luke glanced up from where he was re-stocking the nails to smile shyly at the newest customer. Lorelai performed her patented duck and cover, smiling widely and ducking her head before heading down another aisle. She felt the now-familiar flurry of excitement in her stomach when she realized he was setting down his nails and asking his dad for a break, about to head over to her.

Since their first meeting—when Lorelai had rubbed snot all over his dad's shirt a month ago—she'd ducked into Williams Hardware a total of ten times. All ten times Luke had set down what he was doing, asked for a break, and walked outside with her. Three times they'd gone to Weston's Bakery, twice to the restaurant at the Independence, one very disastrous time to the newly opened Al's Pancake House, and the other four times they'd just walked around, laughing and getting to know each other.

For instance, Lorelai now knew that Luke had a younger sister—Liz—who had done some unspeakable thing at the age of 19 and run away, and Luke hadn't seen her since, but he missed her sometimes, and wished she'd call.

Luke now knew that Lorelai had moved to Stars Hollow when she was 17, because she'd finally gotten tired of living with her parents. So one day, she packed up all of her clothes and albums and all of Rory's baby stuff, called a cab, and stopped at the Independence Inn, because she'd seen an ad for it the week before, and it had the word independence in the title.

"Hey," Luke greeted Lorelai, smiling. He nodded at the wood putty in her hand. "Fixin' some holes?"

She grinned, and blushed, feeling all of twelve years old, embarassed and extremely giddy, just because a boy she liked was talking to her. She shook her head and handed the wood putty to Luke, because he got mad when she just threw stuff on the shelves. He resettled the putty on the shelf, and then nodded toward the door, his now-free hand somehow coming closely to her back, to push her along. She thrilled at the near-contact, and contemplated standing her ground, just to have him actually touch the small of her back. She dismissed the thought, though, and Luke led her out the door, where they made their way to the gazebo and sat and just talked for over half an hour.

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Luke sat on the couch first, nearest the arm, and Lorelai sat meshed up against him, their bodies practically clicking into place. Then Lorelai watched as this other girl, this Rory, flopped onto the other side of the couch like she did it every day. She glanced around at the room, which was decorated a little differently than it usually was, in the not-just-a-dream reality of every day life. For instance, her baby pictures were still scattered here and there, and the picture of Lorelai outside the grandparents' house was still there, but all the pictures of Rory past the age of four were missing.

Rory finished looking around the room and settled her gaze on her mother and Luke, who were looking expectantly back at her.

"Um…hi?" she asked, feeling extremely uncomfortable. It seemed like everything was different, and she'd just woken up to go to the bathroom! Oh, why the hell had Luke been standing in her kitchen at three in the morning? And why did he and Lorelai look so different? Lorelai's hair was short and layered, sticking out at odd angles, and it was a lighter color, an almost honey brown. Luke was clean-shaven, his hair was shorter…and his boxers had small guitars on them. Not that Rory had ever thought about his boxers, but she certainly had never expected _those_. If anything, she figured they might be plaid. Flannel. Like his clothes.

"So…what are you doing here?" Lorelai asked cheerfully, that perma-grin still etched on her face, as it had been since Rory had correctly answered the middle name question.

"I live here." Rory stumbled over her words, suddenly feeling her exhaustion. She'd been up for almost three days, sprawled on the couch with her mother, watching the July 4th 3-day-weekend special Quantum Leap marathon on the Sci Fi channel. They'd refused to move from the couch except for commercials, choosing instead to order in from Luke's, Al's, and Joe's pizza place. Lorelai, though she'd originally be working one of the busiest weekends of the year, had called in sick—"just this once"—so they could have their weekend. When Rory had gone to sleep two hours before, the living room had been strewn with debris—their weekend was almost over—and Lorelai had been half-on, half-off the couch, laughing at the tiniest little thing from sheer exhaustion.

"Um, listen, I…hate to be rude, but can I go to bed? I've been up for three days."

"Oh! Of course!" Lorelai jumped up from the couch and waited for Rory to pass her. When she did, Lorelai followed, wondering where she put her daughter in this nice big house. When Rory stopped outside the sewing room, Lorelai was a little surprised. She thought for sure that her own daughter would at least be upstairs with her.

Rory opened her door and glanced around the room. Thankfully, it was the same. She smiled at her mother. "Talk to you tomorrow?"

Lorelai nodded, throwing her arms around Rory again. "Yeah." After she let go of her, she said quietly, "I love you. You know that, right?"

Rory inwardly let out a sigh. Now this really seemed like her mother. "Yeah." She smiled, genuinely, for the first time since she'd re-awoken not feeling uncomfortable or freaked. "I love you too."

Lorelai took a step forward and planted a quick kiss on Rory's cheek. "Sleep well."

"You, too." Rory smiled again, and then turned into her room.

Lorelai watched as the door was gently shut in her face, changing the unfamiliar teenage Rory's room back into the familiar sewing room door. Luke wandered up and slid his arms around Lorelai's waist.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm," she agreed, leaning her head to rest on his arm, settling her hands over his. "This is all just…wow," she summed up.

"I whole-heartedly agree," he said, resting his chin on the top of her head, "but I think what we all need right now is sleep."

"No," Lorelai shook her head, "I don't want to sleep. I'm afraid she'll be gone when I wake up."

"Come on," Luke took his arms away from her waist, leaving one hand holding on to hers. "Let's go to bed. She'll still be here when we wake up."

It was then Lorelai turned to look up at him, pleading in her eyes. "Promise?" she asked in a small voice.

Luke smiled. "I promise." He tugged gently on her hand, and she finally allowed him to lead her away, up the stairs, and back to bed.

Even as they lay curled into each other, post-coital, she kept her eyes open, keeping sleep at bay, so that her wonderful dream would never end.


	3. Once In A Lifetime

**Tears In Heaven**

The first part is Lorelai's life after Rory's death, then the AU thing, then Lorelai again, and then the AU thing again. Got it? From now on, any time you see these: -------- that means that it's switching from Lorelai's life/the AU thing to the other.

Thanks for reviews; I'm glad you guys are reading.

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Lorelai heard that William Danes had collapsed halfway through turndown service.

Almost immediately she shoved her basket of mints at Vic and headed downstairs, already calling to the front desk to dock her pay for the rest of the day, she was going on an extended break. It seemed like she teleported across town, suddenly in the hospital for the first time in a year and striding towards Luke.

"Luke," she said quickly, "I got here as soon as I could."

He stood from his seat, pale and nervous and shaking. Her heart sank, feeling for him.

"Um," he started, fidgeting, "they think his cancer's back." He finally pulled his gaze from the fascinating floor tile to show Lorelai the tears glittering in his eyes. "It doesn't look good."

"Oh, Luke," she sighed, reaching out for him. He sank his head into her chest, sobbing. "That's right. Just let it all out." She moved them over towards the chairs, and then sat them down. He really started bawling then, moving his hands to wrap around her neck, letting all his frustrations out.

Two days later, after only slight unsettled sleep and absolutely no good coffee, the doctors rushed into William's room and then out, slowly. His main doctor stopped at Luke's hopeful face and shook his head once, twice, a sorrowful look on his face. As Luke sank into the plastic chair, shocked, the doctor took Lorelai aside and said that he'd known Mr. Danes, he'd been a good man, looking out for everyone, and he was very sorry this had happened. Lorelai nodded, shocked herself, and then turned back to Luke, already wrapping her arms around him and allowing him to take solace in something real.

Four days later, after the funeral and memorial service, Lorelai saw Luke's house for the first time.

Both of them feeling vulnerable and tired and just wanting to hold onto something, someone, they had sex for the first time that night, and lay wrapped in each other's arms tightly for the rest of the night.

Luke sold his dad's house not long after that, opting instead to move into his dad's office. He moved everything that wasn't necessary into storage—except for the blue baseball cap his father had always worn. Picking it up out of the box of personal effects his father had left at the hospital, he slid it onto his head, backwards. After that day, he stayed on his head most of the time, wanting to keep a part of his father always with him.

A week later, Lorelai and Luke were sitting on the floor of the hardware store, in the middle of aisle three, leaning against the shelf of nails and sipping from beer bottles.

"What should I do with this place?" he asked, gesturing. "I don't know the first thing about keeping a hardware store running."

"Well," Lorelai started, discarding her bottle and reaching for a second, "what are you good at?"

"I don't know," Luke sighed, leaning forward and resting his hands on the bill of his father's baseball cap.

"Coffee," she said suddenly. "You're good at coffee."

"I'm not turning this into a coffee place. They're all…hoity-toity."

She laughed at his choice of words and shook her head. "No, not a coffee place. A…diner. You _can _cook, can't you?"

He reached over her for his second beer and nodded. "A diner, huh?" He glanced around, imagining it. "Okay."

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Lorelai waited until the not-ungodly hour of nine-thirty the next morning before rushing down the stairs and throwing open her sewing room door. Saddened by the sight of her sewing room, devoid of anything even remotely teenage-Rory-like, she sank into a chair at the kitchen table. She was seconds away from contemplating going coffee-less, and therefore caffiene-deficiency-hallucinations-less, when the downstairs bathroom door opened and Rory walked out.

"Oh, hi," she said, stopping suddenly at the sight of the different-version of her mother sitting at the kitchen table. It hadn't been a dream, unfortunately.

"Hi!" Lorelai jumped up from the table and moved over to her daughter, wrapping her in a hug. "How are you?"

"Okay," Rory answered, subtly ducking out of her mother's hug and walking back to her room. She was still in her robe from her shower. "Can I…go change?" she asked as Lorelai followed her.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry." Lorelai laughed and headed back for the kitchen table. Rory nodded and entered her room.

Ten minutes later, after re-parting her hair fifteen times, she emerged, to find Luke and Lorelai exchanging playful banter near the coffee. Smiling—this was the way she remembered them—she headed over and poured herself a cup.

"Good morning," she said, feeling a little less out-of-sorts.

"Good morning," they chorused back.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Rory asked, taking a sip of her coffee and leaning against the counter. "I mean…I wonder what the town's like. If it's my…town or yours. 'Cause, I mean, if they know who I am, it's my town, but if they think I…died twelve years ago, it's your town." As Luke and Lorelai stared at her, she shrugged and took another sip of coffee. "I dunno, this is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me."

"Okay," Lorelai nodded, "I think we should go to Luke's. I mean, you have to go there anyway," she said, turning to Luke, and then back to Rory, "and we can get a table in the window and people-watch and see what's going on."

"Okay," Rory nodded. "That sounds good."

"Good!" Lorelai smiled at her daughter, and then her boyfriend, glad that she'd figured out a way to make everyone happy.

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"Yes, Mia?" Lorelai glanced up from the registration book and looked into the eyes of her boss.

"Lorelai," Mia smiled, "may I talk to you?"

"Um, sure. Kay, watch the desk," Lorelai told the girl standing to her left, the one she was training to be the early morning front desk personnel. The girl nodded, and Lorelai followed Mia to her office, set off to the right of the front desk. As she settled into the chair in front of Mia's desk, she couldn't help but feel a little giddy. Every other time Mia had called Lorelai in, she'd gotten a promotion or raise, and she didn't see why today could be any different.

"Lorelai," Mia sighed, "I must tell you something. I'm retiring as manager."

"Mia, no!" Lorelai gasped. "You can't! What will we do without you?"

"Well, I'm hoping that _you _can run this place for me. I'll still own it, but you'll run it. _And_," she added as Lorelai's eyes got bigger, "I'm giving you my house. It is definitely about time you moved out of that dirty potting shed."

Lorelai screamed and jumped from her seat.

Twenty minutes later, she was running into Luke's Diner, still screaming intermittently.

"LUKE!" she screamed, running directly behind the counter and into the kitchen.

"For God's sakes, what, Lorelai? Take that plate."

She picked up a plate and bounced on the balls of her feet, following him around the diner.

"I got a promotion."

"Tha—"

"_And_ a house."

Luke plunked his last plate down in front of a costumer and turned to face his girlfriend of six years. "Wow."

"I know!" she squealed, pulling his arms and jumping up and down. "Mia gave me a house!"

Luke grinned and hugged her quickly, stopping the jumping. "That's wonderful news."

"I know!" she squealed again, before jumping up and down and then suddenly stopping. "I'm gonna have a housewarming party. Oh, I gotta plan! See you later!" She gave him a peck on the lips and practically shot out of the diner, like a rocket of energy.

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Rory, walking into Luke's diner behind Lorelai, bumped into someone, and only after he'd muttered, "Sorry," did she realize who it was. She stared after her boyfriend in shock as he wandered down the street, stopping only to wrap his arms around a tall lanky blonde and practically suck her face off.

Hadn't they only reunited a month ago? It had been the same day all the daisies had showed up at her mom's Inn…but wait…the daisies were from Max, her teacher at Chilton…since she'd never gone to Chilton, Lorelai had never met Max and had never gotten engaged and that's why the last few flowers scattered around the town were suddenly gone.

This was her mom's universe. This was the other Lorelai's universe. This was…the place where she didn't exist. The only place that was the same was her room. This was…weird.

Miss Patty stopped at their table and greeted Lorelai warmly, before turning to Rory. "And who's this pretty young thing?"

Luke walked up to them, quickly, and plopped coffee in front of them. "This is my sister's kid," he told Patty, hoping to get her on her way.

"I thought Liz had a boy," Miss Patty said, confused.

"She, uh…she did," Luke nodded, "but this is my sister's kid's girlfriend. She's visiting us and then she's gonna try to get Liz and Jess to come visit."

"Oh. All right. It's nice to meet you—"

"Leigh," Lorelai said quickly, supplying Rory's middle name.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you, Leigh." Miss Patty shook Rory's hand and walked off.

"That was close," Lorelai sighed.

"Yeah," Rory said, her mind somewhere else. Lorelai noticed, and reached out and touched her daughter's shoulder gently.

"Hey. You okay?" she smiled.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. It's just…weird."

"I agree," Lorelai nodded. "So, um, am I any different than you remember? From…I guess, the other me?"

Rory shook her head. "Not really. Except…except her hair's longer, and darker, and she just got engaged and so she's frantically trying to plan a wedding…and…and…she's only friends with Luke, except she flirts with him a lot, but it's all friendly, and she really loves this guy she's marrying, and she's one of my best friends and I just love her a lot." Rory paused, suddenly desperately missing her own mother, her _real _mother, the one who was waiting for her among the debris in the living room, laughing at every other word Al and Sam said, the one who was going to figure out those trilogy episodes for her, and whatever happened to Sam's daughter….

And Rory broke down in the middle of her new mother's boyfriend's diner.


	4. Charmed

**Tears In Heaven**

As always, thanks for reviews. Sorry this update has taken so long.

* * *

"I mean, doesn't it just look great? Isn't this just the greatest looking house you've ever seen?" Lorelai asked in one breath, glancing behind her to watch Luke struggle up the stairs. "Hey, do you want help?" she asked, setting down her one box and reaching for one of Luke's three.

"No, it's okay," he protested, trying to get out of her reach. "You helped me move, I'll help you move."

"Are you kidding?" Lorelai scoffed. "I didn't help you move. I waited until the movers dropped the bed off and then I tried to distract you for the rest of the day."

"I know," he said, a very familiar glint in his eye. "I remember."

She laughed and headed through the open door. He followed, set his three boxes just inside the door, and then rushed her. She squealed as they collapsed on the air mattress he'd set up for her first night there.

"Is it working?" he asked in a low, gruff, voice. She rolled over underneath him so they were facing each other. She smiled and reached up to kiss him.

"You always know exactly how to distract me," she said. He lowered his full weight on top of her, and started kissing her neck.

"Oh, Luke..."

* * *

Lorelai pulled another handful of napkins from the napkin holder and gently held them out to her daughter. Rory reached a blind hand out and tugged them away from her, wiping her eyes quickly and then burying her head in her arms.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she sniffled after a minute.

"It's okay," Lorelai said, laying a soft hand on Rory's arm. "It's probably just hormones."

"I think it's shock," Rory said, blowing her nose. "You know that guy I ran into on the way in?" she asked Lorelai, sitting up.

"Um...tall, brunette?" Lorelai asked, trying to remember.

"Yeah," Rory sniffled, nodding. "That's my boyfriend. I mean, I guess. My other boyfriend? I don't know."

"Yeah, I get it," Lorelai said softly. "Weird, huh?"

"Imagine if you suddenly saw Lukemaking outwith that mean Lindsay Lister from fourth grade, who grew up tall and blonde and really pretty." Rory sighed. "I'm just being mean. Lindsay Lister was really nice to me in fourth grade. We went to Mark Twain's house, and I didn't have enough money to buy this magnet of Mark Twain's head, so Lindsay bought it for me."

"Oh," was all Lorelai said.

"I can't believe he's going out with Lindsay Lister!" Rory said. "She's nothing like me!"

"Well," Lorelai started, "perhaps it's just the alternate universe thing."

"Maybe," Rory said hesitantly. "I guess that makes sense." Suddenly she threw up her hands and buried her head in her arms again. "This is all just some freaky episode of Charmed. Wake me up when it's over."

* * *

When Luke woke up, he was alone. He was a little confused, but as he looked around, he realized where he was. He was lying on his air mattress on Lorelai's new living room floor. Boxes were strewn all about him, and a large piece of cardboard lying directly next to him read "COUCH" in Lorelai's handwriting. He glanced above his head at the crackling fire in the fireplace, and then sat up. 

"Lorelai?" he called. There was no answer, so he rolled out of bed, draping the sheets around the lower half of his body. "Lorelai?" he called again, walking around downstairs. He saw a cup waiting next to the gurgling coffeemaker, so she was obviously awake. "Lorelai?"

This time he was rewarded with a whimper. He followed the noise until he was standing outside the ajar bathroom door.

"Lorelai?" he asked again, knocking on the door.

She sniffled. "Come in," she called.

He edged his way in and saw her sitting on the toilet, her eyes red and a little plastic stick in her hand. "What's going on?" he asked, kneeling down in front of her.

"I'm pregnant," she said softly, showing the two plus signs on the stick.

"Oh," he sighed, holding his arms out for her. She slid off the toilet and into his arms, and they lay curled on the tile floor.

"I was going to buy a couch," she moaned, her head buried in his shoulder.

"I know," he said gently. "I know." He rubbed her back and rocked her gently.

* * *

"All right, Miss Patty's already suspicious," Luke said that evening, while he and Lorelai were cooking dinner.

"I know," Lorelai sighed, reaching around Luke for a spice. "But I don't know what to do. I mean, this isn't something normal. And, we don't know, she might not be back in the morning." Lorelai's breath caught in her throat at the last word.

"Oh, Lorelai," Luke sighed, watching as she started to break down. As she buried herself in his arms, he said, "You can't keep doing this around her."

"Good thing she's not here, huh?"

Rory had left them at the diner twenty minutes ago, wanting to explore the town. She had assured both of them profusely that she would be back at Lorelai's house in half an hour.

"We've still got ten minutes," Luke said now, checking the clock.

"Luke," Lorelai sniffled, "I want her to stay."

"I know," he said. "But Miss Patty's still suspicious."

"Well, your story kinda sucked," Lorelai said, pulling away from Luke and putting her attention back on dinner.

"It was the best I could come up with under the circumstances."

"So, we have a sucky story. How do we fix it?"

Luke shrugged and re-spiced Lorelai's food, causing her to hit his hand with her wooden spoon. "Ow," he said, pulling his hand out of her reach. "What do you think we should do?" he asked, using his other hand to reach for her spoon.

"Call your sister," she said, throwing her spoon into the sink, out of Luke's reach. "And get her to send your nephew here. That'll help the story."

"Huh," Luke said simply. "Good idea."

"Always," she said, kissing Luke quickly on the lips.


	5. Leave Me Alone

**Tears In Heaven**

Oh, I do love reviews.

* * *

"It's true," the doctor said, returning to the small examining room where Luke and Lorelai were tucked, hands clasped together tightly. "You're pregnant."

Lorelai nodded, and dropped Luke's hands. "I knew it," she said softly, allowing her hands to rest on her stomach. "I knew it."

Luke laid one hand over both of hers, and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders. "Is there anything in particular we should be doing, doctor?" he asked, all business-like.

"You've been doing pretty well already. I'd say get some pre-natal vitamins from any pharmacy, and you'll be fine. Just remember to stay away from smoke and alcohol, and schedule a follow-up with the receptionist."

Lorelai swallowed, and nodded, and smiled at the doctor. "Thank you," she said.

"Of course." The doctor smiled a tight smile and left the room. Luke watched him go, and then turned to his girlfriend.

"Are you okay?" he asked, seconds before she broke down, her hands over her mouth and her eyes full of tears. "Oh, Lorelai," he sighed, trying to wrap her in his arms.

She moved her arms away from herself, pushing his arms back to his sides. "Just take me home, okay?" she asked, dropping from the table and starting for the door.

"Okay," Luke said, following her.

* * *

"Uh, Liz?"

"Luke?" Lorelai heard the tinny voice on the other end of the line.

"Yeah. Listen, is Jess doing anything these days?"

Lorelai couldn't make out Liz's response, but Luke suddenly looked pained. "Oh, really. All that?" Luke raised his eyebrows at Lorelai. "Well, listen, do you want us to take him off your hands for a while? Me and Lorelai." Luke sighed. "My girlfriend, Liz. Of twelve years. She's been at the last five Thanksgivings you've come to. Yeah, her!"

Lorelai smiled, and stood from her seat at Luke's kitchen table to refill her coffee cup. She leaned against his counter and watched as he finished his conversation.

"Yeah, the sooner the better. No, not for that long. Well, if it really works out, you can ship the rest of his stuff out here. Yeah, this is the real deal. Okay, hold on, I've got some times around here somewhere." Luke moved the mouthpiece away from his mouth and said to Lorelai, "Where did I put that bus schedule?"

Lorelai glanced around, and then walked swiftly towards Luke's desk and picked up the bus schedule. "Here it is," she said, walking back over and handing it to him.

"Thanks," he said, smiling, before turning his attention back to his sister. "Yeah, there's one leaving there at ten. No, it gets to Hartford at twelve and then switches buses to come here. No, I think Jess can handle it. Well, he's sixteen, isn't he? I think he can do it, Liz. No, I don't think I could meet him in Hartford. No, I really don't. Well, I work. So does she. No, I promise you she works. Why wouldn't she? Liz. Liz! I'll meet Jess at the Stars Hollow bus stop tomorrow at twelve-thirty, okay? Make sure he's on it." With that, Luke hung up the phone. He pointed at it, and looked at Lorelai.

"That woman really gets on my nerves."

"Even worse than me?" Lorelai asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yes, amazingly," he said, leaning towards her. "I don't know how."

There was a knock on the apartment door, and the couple sprang apart.

"That's Rory," Lorelai said, not moving.

"Yep," Luke said, also not moving.

"We should get that."

"Yep."

Lorelai grinned, extricated herself form Luke, and walked to the door.

"Everything's the same," Rory said, walking into the room. "Except the daisies are gone."

"Daisies?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah. Max...um, proposed to you with a thousand yellow daisies." Rory blushed as she watched Lorelai and Luke exchange glances. "It drove Kirk insane."

"Um, Max?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah. He's my Lit teacher at Chilton. And, um, Chilton is the private school I go to in Hartford. And Grandma and Grandpa pay for it."

Lorelai snorted. "That's rich. I asked my parents for money?"

Rory nodded. "It was really hard for you. But now we have a semi-good relationship with them. We have dinner together every Friday."

Lorelai's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "Wow. That's insane." She turned to the meal she and Luke had made earlier, sitting on the counter. "Dinner?" she asked, pointing to it.

Rory nodded. "I'm starved."

The three settled at the kitchen table and began to eat.

* * *

"Lorelai. Lorelai." Luke ran out of the truck behind Lorelai, only to get the door to her house slammed in his face. He sighed and settled his hands on both sides of the door. "Lorelai," he called. "I'm sorry."

"Go away!" she yelled.

"Lorelai, I was just trying to make it better!"

"Yeah? Well you're making it worse!" With her last word, she threw something at the door, and it bounced off the glass with a thud.

"Lorelai! All I did was ask you to marry me!"

"Don't repeat it, stupid! God!" Lorelai's voice got fainter as she walked away, and then her figure reappeared in the glass in the door. "Just leave me alone, okay?" she asked softly.

Luke sighed. "Okay," he said, just as softly.

"I'll call you," he heard as he headed off.

* * *

Rory was nervous. Very nervous.

She was sitting at the bus stop with new-and-improved Luke, her other universe Mom's boyfriend of twelve years. They were waiting for Luke's nephew, who she'd never heard of. She knew Luke had a sister, but she didn't know he had a nephew. She wondered if the nephew were an other universe thing, but she didn't think so. Why would Rory's death or non-death affect Luke's nephew, who was her age?

Rory and this Jess person were supposed to pretend to date, to go along with the story Luke had told Miss Patty. Except, Jess didn't know this story. And Rory didn't think she could act.

And so, she was nervous. Very nervous.

"Here he comes," Luke said, almost under his breath, and in one move, both of them stood at the same time. The bus pulled up almost directly in front of them, and four or five people wandered off. The last person to get off was a boy about Rory's age, with short fluffy hair that stood straight up on his head, a large green army duffel bag, and an expression of distaste. "Jess," Luke greeted his nephew.

"Luke," Jess nodded in response, and then turned to Rory.

"I'm Rory," she said, only kind of stuttering. At first she reached out a hand for him to shake, but Luke, with his eye on the town, shook his head, and so Rory wrapped Jess in a hug, and finished with a kiss on his cheek.

Jess raised his eyebrows at Luke as Rory let him go, but Luke just said, "Let's go," and led the two teenagers to the diner. Jess tried to look around when they entered the diner, and drop his bag, but Rory just grabbed his hand and led him upstairs, to the apartment and out of sight.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Jess asked as they entered the apartment, dropping his bag finally and turning to face Rory.

"Well...it's really weird. I don't really know, actually. But the thing is, we need to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Why?" Jess asked.

Rory sighed. "It's really weird and long and complicated. The gist of it is, in order to keep the town gossips from exploding with information, we need to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Oh, and around everyone but my mom and Luke, I'm Leigh."

"Your mom? Who's your mom?"

"Luke's girlfriend."

Jess raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know Lorelai had a daughter."

"She doesn't. Not really. Not in this life."

Jess finally dropped Rory's hand, and wandered over to the kitchen table and sat down. He stared blankly at the floor and muttered, "I've wandered through the looking glass."

Rory looked down at her hand, the one Jess had been holding seconds before. She hadn't even realized they were holding hands until he'd let go, and now her hand felt cold and alone. She looked back at Jess and smiled. This wasn't her world, so Dean be damned. He could date Lindsay Lister all he wanted. She was going to date Jess.

* * *

Behold, Lit-ness. Good? Bad? Let me know, and I'll keep going.

Lorelai's pregnancy will be explained, I promise.


	6. Gone

**Tears In Heaven**

Lit-ness is always good; I forgot.

Keep reading and reviewing.

* * *

Luke was lying across his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had no idea what he was feeling, but he knew that his mind was racing, a million miles a minute.

Lorelai was pregnant. His girlfriend of six years, whom he'd met at her first daughter's funeral, was pregnant. She was devastated, too--she'd just started a new job, just moved into a new house, and was planning on saving up to buy a couch, a piece of furniture she'd never needed before. But now she was going to have to support a baby, and she felt alone, and she felt desperate, and it had to be the second saddest he'd ever seen her.

He'd tried to make it better, by proposing, but she'd freaked out and locked him out of her house, not allowing him to repeat it. He had half a mind to call her parents, whom he'd never met, and ask what the hell was wrong with their daughter.

His own phone rang, and he sat up quickly. "I'll call you." Those were the last words she'd said to him.

He sprinted from his bed to the phone and grabbed it quickly. "Lorelai?" he asked gruffly, breathless.

"Yes," she said quietly, sadly. He could almost see her tear-streaked face, with shining eyes just poised to burst.

"What?" he asked, wondering if she was answering to her name or his proposal.

"Yes," she said with a sigh, a little louder. "I'll marry you."

"Oh, Lorelai, really?" he asked, excited.

"Yes," she said, with a slight laugh at his excitement. "I mean, why the hell not?"

"Oh, Lorelai, this is great!"

"Yes, it is," she said, laughing a little more. "Come over here and we'll celebrate."

"I'll be right over," he said, practically stumbling in his haste to hang up the phone and rush out the door.

* * *

"Huh," Jess said quietly, staring at the floor.

Rory, sitting across from him, reached out and touched his knee softly. She'd just finished explaining her story to Jess--what she knew of it, anyway. "You understand?"

Jess glanced up at Rory, and then continued staring at the floor. "Huh."

Rory sighed. "Is that all you can say?"

Jess looked back at Rory. "You just told me that you're from a parallel universe, basically, and I'm supposed to be your boyfriend. It's a little weird. I'm still processing."

Rory rolled her eyes. "I'm still processing, and I've had longer than you have. But can you go along with this?"

Jess sighed and leaned back in his chair, his hands over his face. He let out a slight groan and dropped his hands. "Why?"

"What?"

"What's in this for me? I mean, why the hell should I help you? I don't know you. You don't know me. And yet, we're supposed to be so involved that I send you to Stars Hollow before I decide I want to live here? I repeat: what's in it for me?"

Rory, stunned, just shook her head and stuttered. "Uh," she started, "I suppose just for the joy of helping your uncle?"

"I don't have to stay here. I can go home. I know I haven't pissed my mom off too badly lately--she'll probably take me back."

Rory sighed. "Can't you just help me? I don't want the gossips all over me about this. It's bad enough when they're all over me for something I can explain."

Jess suddenly looked at Rory, his interest piqued. "Do we know each other in this parallel universe?"

"Uh...what?" Rory asked, a little flustered.

Jess scooted his chair a little closer to Rory, so that their knees were touching and their faces were inches apart. "Are we dating in this parallel universe? Or maybe you just want to. Is that why you're pushing this so hard?"

"Uh, no. In my real life I didn't even know you existed. As a matter of fact, I have a boyfriend," she finished, puffing her chest out in proud defiance.

"Oh, really?" Jess smirked. He placed his hand on her cheek, and then pulled her lips towards his and closed the space between them.

* * *

She was halfway into her second trimester when they started. The pains. Tiny little shooting pains on the underside of her steadily growing stomach. The first time they happened, she ignored them. The second time, she was with Luke, and he started worrying, but she never mentioned them again, and so he stopped worrying.

When she started bleeding in the middle of her sixth month he blamed himself. He said it was his fault; he said he should have ignored her protests and rushed her to the hospital right away.

But he knows he couldn't have done anything without her consent. He couldn't even make a simple phone call to her parents without her expressed written consent, she said. But that was only after he'd called them once, right after she'd said yes, to tell them that she'd said yes.

Lorelai was only mad because Emily wanted to take over the wedding right at that moment. Lorelai protested, and told her mother that they were putting it off--as soon as Lorelai was settled into her new position and Luke's Diner really got off the ground, they'd start really planning it.

Lorelai refused to allow Luke to tell Emily anything about her pregnancy. She said what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. And as soon as they saw the kid, the couldn't be mad at it, so they wouldn't be mad at her. They could always be mad at her while she was pregnant.

He thought over all of this while he sits in the hospital hallway, his father's cap in his hands. He hated hospitals. Always had. His distaste got worse every time he lost a family member. Which, so far, had been every time.

God, he really hoped Lorelai didn't lose the baby.

Lorelai had very slowly come around to the idea of being pregnant and having another child. Once they passed the first trimester, and the baby started to take shape under her skin, she was esctatic. She ran out one weekend and bought every baby thing anyone could ever need, and then spent the next weekend directing Luke as to where everything should go. She set aside a small room on the top floor of her house, just large enough for a crib, where her baby could be when it wasn't with her. Which, of course, would be never.

Lorelai was planning on holding onto this one with all her might to make up for the other one.

Luke knew that if she lost the baby, she might never recover.

* * *

Rory practically floated down the stairs, her hand nestled tightly in Jess's, who smirked down the stairs after her. They settled on two stools at the counter, and he draped his arm across her shoulder.

Lorelai watched as her daughter beamed up at this guy, before suddenly leaning towards him and kissing him quickly. Lorelai raised her eyebrows and walked up to the couple.

"How you guys doing? Good?" she asked, keeping her eyes locked on Rory's. Rory just grinned, and nodded fervently, while Jess gave one curt nod. "Uh-huh," Lorelai said. "Well, Luke's having dinner at my house tonight. So you can head on over there if you want to. Leigh here knows the way."

"Right. Leigh," Jess said, smirking at Rory, who blushed.

"Yep," she said. "Leigh...Hayden."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows at Rory's choice of last name. "Hayden. Where have I heard that name?"

Rory looked a little confused, and then said, "Hayden is my dad's last name."

"Oh!" Lorelai said, realizing. "Yeah. Of course. And Jess here has told me all about you, and that's why I know your last name."

"Of course," Rory said, playing along for the town.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Come on, Leigh, let's go to Lorelai's and find something to do."

The couple dropped from the stools and headed out the door, their fingers intertwined and identical grins on their faces. Luke walked over to Lorelai and whispered in her ear, "Whaddaya think? Is it working?"

"Oh, it's working," Lorelai said, keeping her eye on Jess and Rory as they wandered down the street. "A little too well, I think."

* * *

The third funeral she'd ever attended. The second funeral of a child of hers.

Sitting in the front row of the church, a tiny wooden box in front of her, she was in devestated shock.

A boy. She'd had a tiny boy.

When she started bleeding, her doctor put her in the hospital, and kept her there for a month before telling her the baby was gone. The doctor explained to her, in gentle yet piercing tones, that they were going to have to induce labor, at which point the child would be stillborn.

Luke was currently sitting next to her in the pew, close enough that she could feel his heat.

She didn't want to feel his heat.

She wanted to move, away from Luke, away from life, but she didn't dare ruin the sanctity of her baby's funeral. Her baby had no name, even though she had lists of names at home. When her boy had been delivered, she didn't want to name it, because she felt it was giving a name to death, to grief.

After the funeral, she left Luke at the diner and walked to the Inn, to the site of the other funeral. She sat on the bench overlooking the lake, where she'd sat six years before. The lake was like a mirror, reflecting the bright blue sky.

She was mad at the weather. It was completely illogical, but she was mad at the weather. It seemed like when the skies should be black with tears, they were always bright blue. At Rory's funeral, the sky had also been completely clear.

He sat down next to her, like he had six years before, but this time she didn't speak or cry on his shoulder. She simply slipped his mother's engagement ring from her finger and set it on his knee, all while staring at the lake. He glanced at the ring, and then at her, but she ignored him and remained silent. Resigned, he wrapped his hand around the ring and followed her gaze.

She gave one curt nod, stood swiftly from the bench, and walked away.

He remained on the bench until he knew she was gone.


	7. Do Over

**Tears In Heaven**

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed; I have finished the story and I hope it's to your liking. Though there are parts of this story I don't like as much, most of it is pretty nice. Thanks again for reading.

* * *

Luke moved out of town after it happened. He moved in with his sister and nephew in New York, and he didn't leave the couch for weeks. Jess, barely eleven, tried to engage his uncle, this guy he'd always begrudgingly enjoyed every time they'd gotten together. Luke wouldn't talk to him, and even yelled at him a few times. Luke always felt a little bad when he saw the hurt look on Jess's face, but it passed quickly when he remembered why he was even in New York in the first place, and self pity quickly took the place of any guilt he could feel.

Lorelai sunk into a deep depression as well, much deeper than before. She didn't get out of bed for almost three months. Her mother moved in, becoming her only source of food. Emily spent most of her time sitting in an armchair next to Lorelai's bed, watching as her daughter slept fitfully. Richard visited once or twice, but couldn't take it, and threw himself into his work back in Hartford. Other members of the town came by every once in a while, at first, but after a few weeks the trickle of people dried up completely, and it's just Lorelai and her mother.

One morning, Lorelai woke up, and she actually felt kind of okay. She sat up and felt warm, so she moved her legs from under the covers and set her feet on the floor. She stood up, and stretched, and headed to the bathroom to run a shower. When the water was running, she pulled the door closed behind her so she didn't disturb her mother as she headed for her dresser and looked for clean clothes. She got out a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and underwear.

Before long she was singing, "Walking Down Your Street" by the Bangles at the top of her lungs.

----

When they got to Lorelai's house, Jess forged forward while Rory hung back. She still felt uncomfortable in this house, where she had been dead for 12 years. Everything was different, and the only place Rory felt comfortable was her room.

Jess had wandered ahead, and now looped back into the foyer to find Rory.

"Come on," he said. "We can't stay by the door all day. Which way's your room?" He glanced back toward the living room, and the stairs. She shook her head and pointed towards the kitchen. He nodded, grabbed her hand, and led her away.

When he opened her bedroom door, there was a sewing room tucked behind it, complete with a dressmaker dummy, a large sewing machine, and yards of fabric. Jess looked at her with one cocked eyebrow. She reached past him and pulled the door closed. Then, she twisted the knob and pushed it open; her room appeared.

He nodded appreciatively. "Neat trick," he said, pulling her into the room behind him.

She sat on her bed facing him, watching as he looked around her room. She was distinctly reminded of when Dean had done the same thing, appraising her by the things that she owned. She was a little surprised to realize that she was just as nervous for Jess's approval as she had been for Dean's.

Jess stood next to her bookcase, trying to feign disinterest, but when she looked closer, she watched as his eyes lit up as he scanned the titles. He pulled a book from the shelf and reached for something in his pocket. Finding it empty, he looked at Rory.

"Got a pen?"

Now it was her turn to cock an eyebrow. "Are you kidding?" she asked. "I don't even break my books' bindings anymore. I'm not letting you write anything in them." She stood and pulled the book from his hands, and glanced at the title. "Especially this." She reshelved it and sat back on the bed, leaning back on her elbows. She smiled at him, daring him to try something.

He left the books where they were and settled next to her. He stared at her for a moment, and then leaned into her, lowering his lips over hers. The kiss was slow, much different from what they'd done in Luke's apartment. When he let her go, she smiled at him.

"We'll just have to find something else to do, I guess."

----

When she climbed into the Jeep, she brought her Bangles tapes, especially "Different Light". She sang along the entire way, at the top of her lungs. It made her feel better, though a little sad--she used to sing these to Rory, way back when.

When she heard "If She Knew What She Wants", she almost had to stop the car she started crying so much. She hoped, hoped against hope, that she wasn't too late, that he'd still take her back. That he'd give her what she needs, what she wants.

She found a phone booth and called 411 as soon as she got into the city. She asked for Elizabeth Danes, and to her surprise, there were only 4. She obediently copied down all the numbers, thanked her operator, and started calling.

On her third call, Liz answered the phone. Lorelai recognized her voice from all the times she'd called Luke. She hurriedly spilled her story and asked for Liz's address, and that she please not tell Luke. After a minute's hesitation, Liz obliged.

----

Though they'd started out semi-horizontally, when they got completely horizontal, Rory placed both of her hands on Jess's chest and pushed softly.

"Too fast," she said, sitting up.

"Oh." Jess groaned and fell on his back on her bed.

"Sorry," she said, leaning over him and touching his chest gently with one hand. "I just wasn't comfortable."

"Oh, I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered. She waited patiently to see what he was going to do, and he merely sat up.

"Got any books I can write in?"

She thought for a second, and then got up to look under her bed. She pulled out a milk crate full of books and pushed them ever so slightly towards Jess. Then she stood, headed for her desk, and pulled out a pen. She handed it to him and said, "Go to town."

He nodded and headed for the living room. She pulled a book from the milk crate and headed after him.

----

Lorelai sat on the stairs outside a modest brownstone in Greenwich Village, waiting for the courage to buzz up or for someone to walk out, whichever came first. After about twenty minutes, a boy with dark brown hair and equally dark eyes walked out, looking for someone.

"Hey," he said, when he spotted Lorelai. "Are you Luke's girlfriend?" When she nodded, he added, "Please tell me you're here to take him away."

"Hopefully," she said, standing.

"Good," the boy said, leading Lorelai into the building. "He's been a permanent fixture on our couch for way too long. He just lays there and doesn't move, even when people come over. It doesn't matter that it's the first thing you see when you walk in the door. He's scared all my friends."

"Oh. I'm sorry. He's just having a tough time."

"I know," the boy said, turning to face Lorelai as they stood waiting for the elevator. His face was filled with sadness and understanding and it threw Lorelai for a minute, the amount of emotion on the face of this boy who couldn't be more than ten. "I wanted to go to the funeral, for Uncle Luke, but Mom was...busy that weekend."

Lorelai couldn't say anything; she merely nodded.

"Sorry," the boy said very quietly, turning to face the elevator as it rumbled to a stop in front of them. Lorelai was suddenly hit with the realization that this was Jess, Luke's nephew. She'd never met him, but Luke had told her stories, had raved about the intelligence the boy had. She couldn't believe she hadn't realized it before.

As they walked into the elevator, Lorelai reached over and wrapped Jess in a hug.

"Thanks for trying," she said as she let him go, quickly wiping her eyes.

"Sure," Jess said, not looking at his crazy uncle's crazy girlfriend.

----

Jess read fast--much faster than even Rory, who had always prided herself on her ability to read quickly and still retain everything. He made notes, too--tiny little notes in the margins, thoughts on the story at the time, the book as a whole, his feelings on the author. They were very insightful, and when he let Rory read them later, she responded verbally to them, and they started a heated literary discussion.

That's how Luke and Lorelai found them later, sitting at the kitchen table practically yelling at each other. When the adults interrupt them, however, the teenagers each have wide grins. Lorelai decided to ignore the lascivious grin this horndog teenage boy had while staring at her daughter, and the strange almost family sat down to eat.

----

When Jess opened the door to the apartment and Luke saw Lorelai, he started crying. She made it to the couch in two strides and kneeled next to it, crying. She looked up at him and just said, "Please come home."

"I'm sorry," he said, and she shook her head and crawled into his lap. They were holding each other and comforting each other and she said, "It's my fault."

"I should have taken you to the hospital."

"I shouldn't have pushed you away."

"I shouldn't have proposed."

She paused, and then couldn't help but nod, starting to cry harder. "I can't get married," she said, "and I can't have a baby."

He nodded, kissing her hair.

"But I want you to come home."

He nodded again, and she kissed the side of his mouth, tasting their tears mixed together.

----

Rory suggested a movie night after dinner, and everyone agreed. Lorelai tried to sit between Rory and Jess, but Luke protested, so Lorelai had to be content just glaring at him the rest of the night.

The night kept getting longer and longer, and though Luke faded at around one and Jess faded a half an hour after that, Rory and Lorelai stayed up, laughing and talking and making fun. Rory got up sometime around three to head for the bathroom, and Lorelai paused the movie, waiting for her daughter to come back. She liked this girl, and felt a pang of sadness that she couldn't have had the years with this girl she felt she was entitled to.

After ten minutes, Lorelai started to get a little worried, and she stood and headed for the bathroom. The door was closed, the light was on, but no one answered when she knocked.

"Rory?" she called a few times, before finally turning the knob and walking in. "Rory?" No one was there.

Sensing the worst, Lorelai sprinted towards the sewing room, which was a sewing room again. Starting to cry, she went back through the living room and up the stairs, screaming Rory's name. She tore through her room and the baby room, and only stopped yelling when Luke turned her around and pulled her towards his chest, where she collapsed, crying.

----

When Rory left the bathroom, she passed a picture of herself at eight in a Halloween costume. Normally this wouldn't be quite a big deal, but she was supposed to be dead, so it kinda surprised her. She returned to the living room to find her mother, her real life mother, sprawled on the couch, snoring loudly. No Jess. No Luke. Just real Lorelai.

Rory threw herself on top of Lorelai, crying with happiness.

"Whoa, whoa, what's wrong, honey?" Lorelai asked, coming to and hugging Rory.

"Nothing. Everything's fine," Rory said, pulling away and wiping a hand under her nose. "I just love you a lot, I guess."

"I love you too, babe. But why are you crying?"

"I had a really terrible dream. I had been dead for 12 years and everything was different and weird and I just missed you!"

"Wow. Sounds crazy. You're gonna have to explain this dream to me."

"Okay. It all started when I woke up and found a half naked Luke in the kitchen."

----

Luke didn't know what Lorelai was babbling about; for a minute he was worried that she'd finally suffered a real mental breakdown and he was going to have to have her committed. She blubbered about how 16-year-old Rory had shown up and she'd been fine and Lorelai had fooled herself into thinking that it had all been real, instead of a cruel dream.

"She was really pretty, Luke. She had my eyes."

"I know," Luke said sadly, kissing Lorelai's forehead. The baby's deathday was in November; he worried that he'd have to console Lorelai talking about her seven year old son then.

"Hey, Luke?" Lorelai asked, glancing up at him.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think we could invite your nephew to come live with us?"

He thought for a minute. "I suppose," he said, slowly. "Would I move in here permanently, then?"

She nodded, and hugged him tighter.

"What brought that on?" he asked. "Asking Jess to come here, I mean."

"I don't know," she said. "I just think it might be nice for him. And us too. Someone else to take care of."

"Yeah. Maybe that might be nice." He smiled when she did.

----

The next time she saw Luke, she asked, "Hey, how come your nephew never visits?"

Luke paused before pouring Rory's coffee. "I don't know," he said after a minute. "I don't really talk to my sister on a regular basis. I used to be kind of close to Jess, though. He's a reader, like you. You'd probably like him."

Rory nodded and took a sip of her coffee. "It might be nice to meet him one day."

"Yeah," Luke said. "Maybe I should call my sister," he muttered on the way off.


End file.
